Traffic stop leads to heroin bust in Annapolis

Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun

A routine traffic stop in Annapolis on Monday led to the discovery of a large stash of heroin and three arrests, police said in a Friday news release.

The 80.3 grams of heroin seized, which would have been worth $16,000 on the street, were not found in the vehicle stopped but in a rental vehicle parked nearby, police said. The woman and two men arrested were all from Annapolis.

According to police, officers first stopped a bright green Lincoln in the 1100 block of Medgar Evers Street for undisclosed traffic violations at about 4:40 p.m., and discovered the driver, Deon Matthews, 20, had a suspended license.

Police said they also found an unlabeled bottle full of percocet and a digital scale in the vehicle.

Police also discovered the passenger in the vehicle, Demarrow Williams, 19, had three outstanding bench warrants for his arrest, and a stolen prescription for oxycodone in his pocket.

As police were investigating, Darla Howard, 29, walked up to the vehicle to try to retrieve the keys to her own rental vehicle parked nearby.

When police told her to wait until they had finished dealing with the two men, Howard seemed "unusually persistent" and unsuccessfully tried to grab the keys from the car, said Det. Amy Miguez, an Annapolis police spokeswoman.

Police subsequently approached Howard's rental car nearby to return the keys to her, and she disclosed connections with the two men arrested, Miguez said. That and her activity raised officers suspicions, Miguez said, and they asked if they could search her car. When she declined, the officers brought in a police dog.

The dog "hit on" the heroine, located in the car's trunk, right away, Miguez said.

Matthews has been charged with drug and drug paraphernalia possession and with removing the label from a prescription. Williams has been charged with theft, drug paraphernalia possession and three separate charges relating to creating, having and issuing a forged prescription.

Howard has been charged with drug possession and drug possession with the intent to distribute.

Both vehicles were seized, as was more than $2,000 in cash, mostly from Matthews' pants pocket, police said.